"I'm sorry, Mr. Xiao."

Wang Jie looked somewhat ashamed, "But that, I'm afraid, can only be revealed after you agree to cooperate and our president informs you."

She tactfully declined, without mentioning what treasures were up on the mountain.

Wang Tong, dissatisfied, blurted out, "Can't you make the decision? Why invite us then?"

Zhao Yan also chimed in, "If you can't make decisions, why bother inviting us? What if we agreed to go back with you and your president disagreed? It would be a wasted trip for us, wouldn't it?"

"No, that won't happen."

Wang Jie shook her head, hastily explaining with a friendly smile still on her face, "We are all humans, we should be helping each other in this evil land."

"Rest assured, our president will welcome, and not reject, talents like you."

"After all, the power of the Evil Ghost is too great, defense is hard, every additional person is an extra bit of strength."

"And what if your president refuses?"

Still skeptical, Wang Tong pressed further.

"You worry too much!"

Wang Jie's smile remained untouched before turning to Xiao Mu.

She had long recognized that among the three, Xiao Mu was the leader. Regardless of what the other two said, it was Xiao Mu who had the final say.

After pondering, Xiao Mu responded, "The concerns of my friends are not unwarranted. If you cannot make decisions, your invitation is meaningless. You're better off checking with your president before inviting us to cooperate."

"This..."

Wang Jie was startled, she didn't expect Xiao Mu to reject her outright.

After thinking, she finally said, "How about this, Mr. Xiao, I promise you, I guarantee our president will agree to have you join us. Would you come back with me?"

Xiao Mu waved a dismissive hand, unfazed, "It's better if you speak to him first before talking about cooperation."

"Ah!"

Unable to suppress a sigh, Wang Jie said regretfully, "If Mr. Xiao insists, then I'll have to go back and ask our president to come personally. Please wait here for a moment."

"Fine."

Xiao Mu nodded his agreement.

"Please wait."

Wang Jie called out before using her Qinggong to go back the way she came.

"Big Mu."

As soon as Wang Jie had left, Wang Tong couldn't help asking, "Isn't this woman trying to trick us? Could she be planning something harmful?"

"I hope not."

Xiao Mu shook his head slightly.

Wang Jie didn't seem like that type of person, she was just a bit impulsive in her actions.

Zhao Yan added, "She might not harm us, but others... that's hard to say."

Still, they should be on their guard. Wang Jie couldn't make the call, making her invitation meaningless.

The three of them stopped to wait. Xiao Mu deliberately dismissed his Ghost Servant, and also put away the Fire Dragon Vehicle.

Not long after, another martial artist arrived on a motorcycle, a strong man in his thirties, not Wang Jie.

His strength was roughly on par with Wang Jie, also at the late stage of the Third Realm.

"I'm sorry for making you wait."

As soon as he approached Xiao Mu's group, the man immediately gave a sincere apology.

"Where is Wang Jie?"

Xiao Mu asked outright.

Wang Jie wasn't with the man when she came, which made him feel that something was off.

The man face showed a smile, apologetically replied, "Wang Jie? She has some matters to attend to and couldn't come."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mu and his companions looked at each other, with an inkling of what was going on.

Sure enough, the man continued, "I came to apologize. According to Wang Jie, she had invited the three of you to cooperate."

"Are you going back on your word?"

Wang Tong voiced his displeasure.

"Ahem!"

The man coughed apologetically, "It's not exactly going back on a word. We already have enough people, we really don't need any more to join."

"So, regarding Wang Jie's previous invitation, I specifically came to apologize to the three of you. Please don't take it to heart."

"So, we were fooled and now all you have to do is apologize?"

Wang Tong was highly displeased.

The look on Xiao Mu's face was far from pleasant as well.

Upon Wang Jie's return, it was obvious that something unexpected had happened. Although they didn't know what the unexpected event was, this man specially came to veto Wang Jie's proposal. Clearly, there were some other hidden variables involved.

The muscular man smiled and showed no anger, "In addition, I brought some Energy Crystals as a way to atone for this. This is just a token of our sincerity, please accept."

"Also, regarding the misunderstanding, please don't take it to heart. We truly have enough manpower and it's not because we intentionally reject you."

Saying this, the man pulled out several Energy Crystals from his body.

These Energy Crystals were not large, nor too small, they likely came from Evil Ghosts. It seemed like there were seven or eight pieces in total.

Typically, so many Energy Crystals would be considered quite a lot.

However, for Xiao Mu and his friends, who had already reached the late stage of the Third Realm and consumed a number of energy fruits, they clearly didn't care much about these.

Actually, at their level, the Energy Crystals don't really make much of a difference anymore.

With each advancement, the energy needed was immense and even Energy Crystals obtained from Blood Demons didn't help much.

The Energy Crystals they had were no longer used for cultivation but instead, they tried to use them with various materials to induce mutation. But the chance of this occurring was not high, so most of the Energy Crystals ended up wasted.

In short, by their standards, Energy Crystals were almost insignificant. To enhance themselves, they rely on Energy Fruits in the end.

"You think we're beggars?"

Highly dissatisfied, Wang Tong didn't even bother reaching out to accept their offer.

The man chuckled awkwardly and apologised, "I rushed out in a hurry and didn't bring any valuable materials. My apologies, please don't take offense."

"Forget it."

Xiao Mu waved dismissively, ignoring the man. Turning to Zhao Yan and Wang Tong, he said, "Let's go!"

"Big Mu, are we... just going to accept this?"

Wang Tong asked unwillingly.

Xiao Mu turned his head and glared at Wang Tong who immediately shut up. Having been refused for cooperation and receiving an apology, Xiao Mu couldn't find a reason to make an issue out of it.

"I'm sorry, truly I am. We already have enough manpower, but perhaps we can cooperate another time."

The man continued to apologize profusely, seeming sincere in his manner.

Xiao Mu paid him no mind and beckoned Zhao Yan and Wang Tong to leave.

They started on the rugged mountain road, and in no time, they were deep in the woods, disappearing from sight.

"Big Mu, are we really going to let it go?"

Not long after they'd left, Wang Tong, discontented, asked again.

"Let it go, if they don't want to cooperate, are we going to force them to? Huh!"

Zhao Yan retorted.

Immediately after, it seemed like she noticed something and her face changed slightly as she turned her gaze towards the hidden part of the valley on the right.

"It's an Evil Ghost."

Xiao Mu's observation was even more specific than hers, he immediately noticed in the valley on the right, a number of Evil Ghosts were lurking. They were quite numerous and seemed to be of high power as well.

Without a doubt, these Evil Ghosts were waiting to attack the camp of the Qing Ming Association.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.